Savage Symbols

We are going on third generation now, and the reality really is that although we have a homeland to return, I think we’ve pretty much made ourselves here in New Zealand a home.

– Church Minister Rodney Leleisi’uao

When Christianity arrived in the Pacific, the Tatau was banned. There were twelve of us, seven boys and five girls. All my sisters have the malu (female tattoo), and all the boys have the Pe'a. I was tattooed by my brothers.

– Su'a Suluape Petelo, brother of Su'a Sulu'ape Paulo, talks about his pe'a and the history

Others say that overseas is better, I don't agree. They are not in control of their lives, they are ruled by the clock. They might be tired and sleepy but when the alarm goes off at 8 o'clock they have to go to work or else their children will starve. In Samoa, if you’re tired, you can sleep all day, or two days until you’re rested. When you wake up, you can send the kids to the plantation to get food. There is no suffering, or a boss telling me what to do.

– Lemauga Nafatali compares life in Samoa and in Aotearoa

I had a passion to do it. And I think if you don’t have a passion to do it and a heart to do it, you won’t get it done. It’s not something that you just think about overnight, you know, it took me five years to think about it. To meditate on it. To really find out if I was really committed to it.

– Muaulu To’omaga on committing to the pe'a

It's like marriage, aye? You don’t really jump into marriage, just like that. You gotta think about it and stuff like that. It’s a big commitment.

– Muaulu To’omaga discusses the thought involved in committing to the pe'a

There’s no other pain like this in a man’s life.

– Su'a Sulu'ape Petelo, brother of Su'a Sulu'ape Paulo, discusses the pain of the pe'a